2023 is the second edition of the biennale A Dobradiça - Encontros contemporâneos, a new multidisciplinary program of contemporary art and culture in the town of Mação in central Portugal.

In 2023 the still young biennale focuses our relationship to our environment and ourselves because as human beings we are already ecological. Therefore, the idea of this biennale starts from the fact that we are the first protagonists of our own decisions in the ecosystems we belong to. At the crossroads of this interacting world; let’s think and act about environmental issues with pleasure and without feeling constantly guilty. Let us consider which priority do we want to give to address questions of our environment?

So, from there, let’s be surprised by the diversity of approaches artists are offering us about this complex subject, keeping our senses open to enjoy different languages and unique experiences.

The program of A Dobradiça - Encontros contemporâneos will be offered largely for free, open to the public between July 6th and August 10th 2023.

A Dobradiça - Encontros contemporâneos believes that art can play a vital role in bridging the global public and scientific approaches which can open our eyes for the present and future of our planet. Art can provide emotive experiences and empathy towards the reality we are facing in our daily lives by looking at these complexities in a different way: imagination is the key here!

This year’s biennale wants to bridge the gap between the evidence of present environmental disasters and the feeling of urgency in all of us. Artistic experiences, performances and workshops are aiming at this exchange of ideas between artists and visitors. Artists are not giving answers, but are enabling our capacity to observe, to imagine and process in our own lives what we can change, be it in small gestures or larger ones.

During five weeks, A Dobradiça - Encontros contemporâneos offers great opportunities for all generations to take the time to think, share, experience and appreciate multidisciplinary artistic presentations, take part in workshops, listen, exchange or attend a weekly film programmation.

The creators of A Dobradiça - Encontros contemporâneos have chosen this 5-week format to dedicate more quality time to the local community and the artists who are participating. The biennale invites artists in short-term residency to make site-specific works or performance and has commissioned new works made specifically for the biennale.

With this second edition of the biennial, we are going to experience Nature through the lens of its five elements, in various artistic interactions involving the body and the mind; with water, soil, plants, trees, heart beats, smells, and sounds, during the day and at night. The Conversations with artists, filmmakers, choreographers, scientists, mentors and thinkers will question and make propositions about how environmental issues can be addressed.

The biennale will spread its program across the town of Mação in all its forms and rhythm, whether in its public spaces or private ones, houses and hearts which are opening especially for the second edition of A Dobradiça - Encontros contemporâneos.

A Dobridaça 2023 collaborates with local schools, colleges, universities and associations to be actors of the biennale. Foremost to be mentioned is the partnership with the ‘Risk Observatory’ of the Coimbra university and the Departamento de Microbiologia of the University of Sevilla who proposed their expertise on the topic in association with some of the commissioned artists.

Mação, the town and concelho in the center of Portugal, already gave a warm welcome to the first edition of A Dobradiça - Encontros contemporâneos in 2021. Bringing culture and awareness to this area is also a way of creating possibilities for permanence by offering a cultural program in this remote area of Portugal.

The makers of A Dobradiça - Encontros contemporâneos are grateful to all artists and partners who will be joining in this adventure. Each visitor who will give this biennale the privilege of their presence from the street next door or from the other side of the world will be stressing the importance of the topic in this 2023 A Dobradiça - Encontros contemporâneos.



Cécile Bourne-Farrell - Invited curator 2023




email - connect@adobradica.com